Three Ways to One Solution
by The-Weird-Maraudettes
Summary: The whole school knows James has fancied Lily for a very long time, and now that they have to share a living space as Heads, how will things work out? And aside from that, will each other's friends help... or make things worse? Side pairings: SB/OC RL/OC.
1. Welcome back home!

**DISCLAIMER!!! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling!**

***

Emily walked down the stairs and headed toward the Great Hall with a small smile. She finally got to see her friends again after what seemed like a long summer vacation. Sure they owled each other, but it just wasn't the same. As she walked she wondered if Lily was already there or if she was still getting ready like Alice. Emily also wondered if Lily and Potter (who were this year's Heads and had to share a living space) had gotten into another one-sided argument (where Lily was the arguer). Sometimes Emily felt sorry for Potter, but sometimes she couldn't help but be a little upset at him and his friends for some of the pranks they did.

"Good morning, Kate," she heard a familiar voice say. She looked up and smiled even as she blushed. He was smiling at her.

"Good morning, Lupin," she replied.

"How does it feel to be back?" he asked her. She noticed his cheeks were tinted pink, which of course made her blush darker.

"It's great. I missed Hogwarts and my friends. Sometimes, I even missed the pranks you and your friends played," at this he gave a small laugh, "but at the same time I feel a little sad knowing this is our last year and we might not see people we like seeing," she finished and gave a little embarrassed laugh. He gave a sort of crooked smile she found cute. "And you?" she asked.

"Much like you, really. It feels great to be back and see my friends but it is a little sad knowing this is our last year," he said and it seemed to her like he wanted to say something else. She nodded and they were silent a moment as they stood near the door of the Great Hall.

"Morning," greeted a third voice. Emily and Lupin looked up to see a smiling Lily Evans.

"Good morning," they both answered with a smile. After all, Remus Lupin was the only one of the Marauders Lily and Alice liked. Emily on the other hand, seemed to get along with all of them… maybe it was her peace-maker attitude.

"I didn't know Alice took _that_ long to get ready," Lily commented and Emily had to agree.

"Maybe we should see if everything's all right," Emily suggested and Lily nodded.

"Can I go with you? My friends should have been here a while ago," Lupin said and the girls agreed. Emily ended up walking between Lily and Lupin.

The sight that met the three when they arrived to the common room was a familiar one. Maybe it had surprised the three newcomers because it was so early into the year. Sirius Black and Alice Daniels were arguing while Peter Pettigrew watched helplessly.

"You could just go around. Why should _I_ move when _I_ was standing here first?" he was asking.

"Well, Black, maybe you could, oh, I don't know, try being a gentleman for once in your life and _move_," Alice retorted.

"I'll have you know that-"

"Good morning," Emily stepped in quickly and stood next to Alice as she smiled at Black and then Pettigrew. There was a flash of sheepishness in Black's features, but it was gone so fast nobody was sure if they were imagining things or not.

"Morning," Pettigrew answered with a relieved smile.

Alice was about to say something but Emily didn't let her. "Come on Alice, we have to go get breakfast," she said tugging Alice's sleeve. Alice sighed and nodded. Emily smiled her goodbye at Black and Pettigrew and they replied in kind. Black moved out of the way to let Emily pass and he grinned when Alice glared at him. Emily smiled timidly at Lupin and he gave her a cute half smile. The three girls left the common room.

James Potter was going up the stairs as the three girls were descending them. "Morning," he said with a smile and his eyes seemed to linger on Lily. She nodded at him while Alice mumbled a "morning".

"Good morning, Potter," Emily answered with a smile. "Congratulations for making Head Boy," she said.

"Thanks," he said as he tried to flatten his hair as he gave a sort of nervous smile, and his eyes darted to Lily and back to Emily. Then the girls continued their way to the Great Hall while Potter went to the Gryffindor common room.

"So, what's up with you guys?" James asked as he saw his fellow Marauders. "Well, Padfoot over here managed to get into a fight with Daniels before the day even started," Remus replied in mock-seriousness. James gave an amused smile at Sirius. "Really? That's interesting." Sirius glared at his friend. "It was her fault! She started it!" he half whined. James, Remus and Peter started laughing.

"So Prongs, what's your next plan to make the oh-so-lovely Lily Evans fall for you?" Sirius asked dramatically. James blushed slightly when he heard Lily's name. He still couldn't believe that he had been chasing the same girl for 3 years! None of the Marauders _ever _chased a girl for that long. They were all considered as players. But somehow James knew that Lily was the one for him. All he had to do was make Lily fall him. Too bad she thinks of him as an 'arrogant bullying toe-rag.'

"Hello Prongs! Daydreaming about Evans again?" Sirius asked with a smirk. Remus pretended to think deeply. "Let me guess. You still can't believe that you have been after the same girl, for a long time right?" he asked with a smile. _Sometimes it's really annoying when my friends are right_, James thought to himself. "Yeah, that's pretty much it" he mumbled. "But this year it's going to be different. I know it," James predicted. "How do you know that?" the other three asked him. "Because we will eventually come up with some crazy plan that's going to get me Lily," James told them with a grin. "Yes! Also, we will have to play a final prank for the students," Peter said with a smile. "Guys, this is our year. Let's make the best of it!" James told his best friends. "YEAH!" they shouted. "Oh, and Prongs? Congrats on making Head Boy, although I expected Moony over here to be appointed," Sirius told James. "Actually, so did I, but I'm not going to let that bother me because Lily will be there," James pointed out. And with that, they walked out of the Common Room.


	2. Another Side Of James Potter

**DISCLAIMER! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling!**

**A/N:** I'd just like to let you know that my friend and I would like reviews so that we know how to better this story! Please, it's the first time we publish something we're writing together, it'd really help! Thanks to _JaneSkye_! First reviewer! I'd give you a cookie… but I kinda can't.

~.~.~

After breakfast and getting their schedules, the girls decided to go to their first class, Transfiguration. The girls sat together in the middle of the class. They got their parchment, quill, and ink ready.

"I kind of missed classes," Emily said with a smile. She really was glad to be back.

"Of course _you_ would," Alice said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, please, like you didn't miss getting into arguments with Black during class," Lily said with a smirk.

"Like you with Potter," Alice replied smugly and Lily's eyes narrowed. Emily laughed quietly. "What are you laughing at Miss my-partner-is-Lupin-and-I-adore-him?"

Emily blushed. "Oh, hush you," she said while Lily laughed.

"Look, I'm quaking in my uniform shoes," Alice said and Emily sighed but couldn't help smiling.

"You might want to tone it down a bit Daniels, you don't want everyone to know you're scared of Kate, do you?" a voice near the door said. Alice made a face and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, like you quake in fear before Lupin. It's obvious, you know," Alice said and glared when the boys began making their way toward them, but then she grinned at Emily and moved a seat over, the chair next to Emily now empty. Said girl turned to Alice and blushed while the other just continued to grin. Black sat next to Alice, who scowled at him. Potter took his seat next to Lily and Pettigrew sat next to Potter. Lupin took the empty chair next to Emily. Lily rolled her eyes at Emily as if to say "Why me?" and Emily had to smile.

"How do you like your new quarters?" Lupin asked Lily politely and she smiled at him.

"It could be better," Lily answered with a shrug and Emily had a feeling she was talking about having to share with Potter.

"Really? I don't think it could be," Potter said. By the look on Lupin's face Emily had a feeling they were thinking the same thing: that he was talking about sharing the room with Lily. Lily also seemed to catch this and looked ready to throw a witty word or two but Potter continued saying, "The common room is a bit small, but my room is big, it's great!"

"I guess," Lily said, "my room is pretty spacious."

"Then how could it be better?" Potter asked looking at Lily curiously. She frowned at him before saying,

"Well, the common room… it could be a bit bigger."

"Must you always complain about everything?" Emily asked Lily emphasizing the last word, talking about Potter. Lily of course caught on.

"Don't I always? I thought you'd be used to it by now," Lily answered with a grin. Didn't she always complain about Potter?

"Well, yes, but why complain about things you like?" Emily queried boldly while trying to look innocent as she smiled at Lily. Said girl blushed and looked at Emily with slightly wider eyes.

"I do not," Lily said defensively. Emily only smiled but she noticed Lupin, Potter, and Pettigrew staring at them confused. She raised an eyebrow at them.

"Why does it sound like your conversation has a double meaning?" Potter asked with a furrowed brow.

"We're girls, we tend to make it sound like that," Emily answered trying to sound sympathetic that they didn't understand. Lupin was about to comment but wasn't able to, perhaps it was a good thing.

"Why do you insist on sitting near me?" they all heard Alice say exasperated.

"Well, you could always go somewhere else," Black pointed out.

"I shouldn't have to, not when I was here first! Why don't you go sit next to Pettigrew? You know, _away_ from me?" Alice retorted.

Black grinned mischievously. "Because I already sat down and I don't feel like moving. Besides, I like annoying you, it's fun," Black answered. Alice glowered at him but he seemed unaffected.

///

"Okay, class," McGonagall said after they had done their note-taking, "now that you all have partners, take turns transfiguring the rabbits into mugs and back again." With that, everyone set to work. Class was about halfway done; of course something was bound to happen.

"Ow, Evans," Potter said as Lily smacked his hands.

"Let go of it! You're hurting it," Lily answered.

"If I let go of it, I'll hurt it more," Potter replied indicating he couldn't just "let go" of the rabbit.

"Oh, here," Lily said snatching the rabbit and holding it properly, trying to calm it down so they could set it on the table and transfigure it again.

Black and Alice weren't having much luck either.

"Are those whiskers?" Black asked.

"What? It looks fine," Alice replied with a confused frown.

"I meant on you," Black said with a grin.

Alice sent him a scathing look. "You git! You… you bloody spawn!" Alice retorted hitting his arm. He seemed surprised when he rubbed the spot, as if it had really hurt.

"Consider yourself lucky," Black said with a grin.

"Ha! Working with you is the worst luck I could have. How can I possibly consider myself lucky?" Alice asked.

"Well, I just gave you an excuse to touch me," he told her cheekily and winked at her. Alice looked positively murderous. Her hands balled into fists.

"Why you-"

"Alice, McGonagall's coming," Emily warned. Alice closed her eyes and took a very deep breath forcing herself to calm down.

"Daniels, Black, done already?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.

"Certainly, professor," Black said with an almost beaming smile. Alice shot him a disgusted look.

"Show me," the professor demanded. Black shrugged and transfigured the mug back into a rabbit and then to a mug again. Alice then took her turn with another breath before successfully transfiguring the mug into a rabbit and back again. With a satisfied nod, McGonagall moved on to Emily and Lupin.

"And you two?" the professor asked though she didn't sound suspicious. She knew them well enough to know they worked well together.

"Yes, professor," they answered modestly and unsynchronized. They showed her, and being the good students, they did it well. When McGonagall approved and moved on, Lupin and Emily looked at each other and smiled.

Lily and Potter were able to do it too. It was after all, Potter's best subject. Unfortunately, Pettigrew wasn't so lucky.

"Well done. Now you, Pettigrew," McGonagall instructed. He managed to turn the mug into a rabbit well enough, but his mug ended up with a fluffy tail instead of a handle. McGonagall told him to practice more thoroughly. Black and Alice chuckled at this. They looked at each other surprised they had had the same reaction and Sirius grinned at her while Alice simply rolled her eyes at him and shrugged.

Lily mindlessly transfigured their mug into a rabbit again, she went to hold it but the rabbit moved out of the way. It was about to leap away when Potter (thank Merlin for his fast reflexes) caught it. She gave him a little smile in thanks which he returned. He did have a nice smile, Lily had to admit. He held the rabbit the right way this time and Lily happily stroked away. So, maybe Potter wasn't _that_ bad after all.

///

It was almost time for curfew and Lily walked into the Gryffindor and saw Potter chatting with his friends. She had come to call him since it was almost time to patrol. She went up to him. "Hey Potter." Lily greeted him.

Potter turned towards her. Immediately his face broke out into a charming smile. "Oh, hey Evans! What's going on?"

"It's almost time to patrol. We should probably get going." Lily answered. Potter got up and bid goodbye to rest of the Marauders. He walked out the portrait door with Lily.

Potter and Lily walked in silence for about half an hour and they hadn't found any students sneaking away after the curfew. Finally Potter broke the silence by asking, "So Lily, how is life?"

Lily looked at him in surprise, since he had never asked her a question like that. "Um….fine, I guess." She didn't know else to reply.

Potter wasn't satisfied. "Fine? That's it? Come on Lily, tell me something more," he insisted.

This surprised Lily even more. "Are you okay today Potter? Didn't hit your head or something, right?" She asked teasingly.

Potter smiled and replied, "No Lily, I didn't hit my head. I just figured that instead of asking you out everyday and irritating you, I would rather just talk to you."

Lily seemed to contemplate this. She seemed to accept his answer and replied, "Okay. My life in Hogwarts is pretty good. I have the best friends ever, good grades and I really have fun everyday. As far as dating is concerned, I'm perfectly fine with not having a boyfriend. As for popularity, I'm really not that concerned about how popular I am or anything. I think it's stupid to see people trying to fit in by being someone they're not. I mean, how can they expect to find real friends if they're pretending?" Lily looked at Potter as if she was expecting an answer from him. He was so engrossed in what she was saying that he didn't even realize that she had stopped talking. Lily waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello, earth to Potter!"

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I got caught up in what you were saying. Okay, so how is life at home? I have no idea how Muggle life is, so maybe you can tell me." At the mention of home, Lily face saddened a bit and Potter noticed that. "What's wrong Lily?" He asked concern evident in his voice.

She looked away from him and replied, "It's nothing."

Potter wasn't buying it. "It has to be something. Come on Lily, just tell me. If it's any comfort I'm a pretty good listener."

_Should I tell him? _Lily thought. She had never told her friends about her home that much, but something about Potter made her want to tell him, so she decided to tell him. "The thing is my sister doesn't like me." She confessed. "She thinks I'm some sort of freak just because I'm a witch. Every time I go home, she just blatantly asks me 'Why did you come home freak?' I try to laugh it off but it hurts really badly on the inside. The irony is I love her. Even though she taunts me like hell, I still love her as a sister but apparently she doesn't feel the same. It's not like I asked for magic, it just happened! But for some reason, my dear sister does not understand that. And that is precisely why I never go home during the holidays. It just hurts….every time," Lily finished. Potter stared at Lily in shock. So this was the life of Lily Evans at home. He had to admit, it's not that good. How can a sister be so inconsiderate? He must have voiced out that last thought because Lily replied, "I don't know! I try to explain but she doesn't listen." She looked so sad that Potter just wanted to hug her, but he wasn't sure whether Lily would approve.

"Hey, do you feel better now?" He asked her.

Lily replied without hesitating. "Actually yes. I do feel better now that I told you. Thanks for listening," she told him with a smile.

Potter returned her smile. "No problem. You've never told your friends huh?" He guessed.

She shook her head. "No, I never did. I just didn't want their sympathy I guess."

"How come you told me?"

The truth is, Lily didn't know why she told him either. But whatever it was she really did feel better now. "I don't know why I told you. You were just being polite and curious so I told you," Lily replied and shrugged. "And thanks for listening," she added.

"No problem. I'm glad you feel better after you told me," Potter replied. He looked at his watch and said "Let's get back to our dorm, it's getting late."

"Fortuna Major," Potter said to the portrait and they both entered the dorm.

As Potter was about to go to his bedroom, he heard Lily say "Thanks again Potter, tonight was good."

Potter turned to her and replied, "You're welcome. If you ever need someone to listen, remember I'm right here. Goodnight Lily and sleep well." And with that he went to his bedroom. Lily just stood there for a few minutes and then she went to her bedroom as well. Her last thoughts before she fell asleep was, _maybe Potter has changed_.

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	3. Confusing Feelings

**DISCLAIMER! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling!**

**A/N: **Thanks again to _JaneSkye _and _Gunther123_ for reviewing! You guys rock! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, but school calls. Hope you like it. _Please take time to review!_

~.~.~

Alice, Emily and Lily were having breakfast peacefully because the ridiculously annoying Marauders weren't there. Of course, Lupin had to be excluded from that statement as well as Pettigrew who didn't say much.

"I think we should leave before they come," Alice suggested. She wasn't really in the mood for an argument with Sirius Black, the hardheaded git. Also, the fact she wasn't feeling well didn't help.

"Good idea, let me just finish my porridge," Lily said as Emily finished her last bit of toast. In truth, a small part of Lily wanted the Marauders to come. She secretly liked watching the arguments between Alice and Black, who were both witty. Then there was Potter. He wasn't really being a prat anymore, he hadn't asked her out once, and she could tolerate him now, especially because he could maintain a normal conversation with her now.

Alice wondered what she'd done wrong to receive such punishment as she saw the Marauders come in and Lily still wasn't done with her porridge. She unrealistically hoped they wouldn't notice them, but with Potter's attraction to Lily and Black's attraction to annoying Alice, it was impossible. "Lily, can we just go?" Alice pleaded as she saw the four boys making their way toward them.

"I think-"

"Good morning," Sirius Black said with a smile as he sat himself next to Alice. She gave a heavy sigh. Potter and Pettigrew sat across from them while Lupin sat next to Emily. The last two greeted each other with a smile.

"There's nothing good about this morning," Alice grumbled. She might as well try to go through the motions, though she really didn't feel like it.

"Really? I think it's wonderful with such lively chatter," Black said and grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "Not with _your_ lively chatter, it's not," she said halfheartedly as she reached for a piece of toast. Since it didn't seem like they'd be leaving anytime soon she might as well eat properly. She took the toast – and Black plucked it right out of her fingers. She blinked at where she had been holding the toast and then at Black as he took a bite of toast. He smirked at her expecting a rant.

"Thanks," he said and took another bite. Not going with what he was expecting, she simply sighed and glanced at her friends who were trying not to look amused. Alice looked at them accusingly. She reached for another piece of toast – which was also plucked out of her hands by Black.

She looked at him and frowned. "What happened to the first piece?" she asked.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Um, I ate it?" he asked slowly.

This time Alice took a piece of toast and bit into it before Black could take it. "Could you eat any faster?" she muttered.

Black grinned. "Actually, I can, wanna see?" he asked.

"No, I'd like to keep my breakfast in my stomach thank you," she replied. She didn't sound very wholehearted and everyone noticed this. She sounded more like she was going with what was expected. She took another bite of toast.

"You okay?" Black asked.

She shrugged. "Just tired," she replied.

"Dreaming of me too much?" Black queried with a grin. That usually riled her up.

"No, but you said it wrong. You were supposed to say nightmare," she told him in the same tone she had used before.

"But I wasn't talking about _you_," he said.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked at her friends before abruptly taking her satchel and toast and standing up. "Can we go now?" she asked the girls and it almost sounded like a whine. The other girls nodded and stood. Emily and Lily (surprisingly enough) said goodbye to the Marauders while Alice simply walked out.

/

"I wonder what's wrong with her," James said to his friends watching as Evans walked away.

"She said she was tired," Sirius reminded him.

"Although, I think she might not be feeling well," Remus said knowledgeably. Sirius only shrugged at this but he couldn't help but glance at the doors which Daniels had disappeared through.

/

Emily and Lily glanced strangely at Alice. "Are you okay?" Lily asked her friend.

Alice shrugged. "I feel a little sick. I'm sure it'll go away soon," she replied.

"Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey," Emily suggested.

"Yeah, I'll go later if this keeps up," Alice assured. Then they entered the classroom where Alice promptly put her head down (after setting everything around her).

After some time students began to come in, among them the Marauders. Black began once again to make his way toward the girls, and Potter (and secretly Lupin) was glad to be near the girls. Pettigrew went because his friends did and because he liked watching his friend and the girl banter, it was entertaining (at least when the others were there).

Black sat next to Alice, whose head was still down. She peeked out the crook of her arm, saw him and groaned. "Go away," she said but the sound was muffled.

He only grinned. "What was that?" he asked. He'd understood and heard what she'd said but he was looking for normalcy. He felt strange if they weren't arguing because that meant that she really _wasn't_ feeling well.

She didn't reply right away. They heard a muffled "hmph". Finally, she raised her head and looked at Black. "I said to go away," she said.

"I'm already sitting though," he pointed out with a smirk.

"So? You're a tall, healthy boy; I'm sure you can get your butt off the seat and find another one. Preferably, one far _away_ from me," Alice told him though she didn't sound like she usually did.

"But I don't feel like moving my tall, healthy self," he stated with a grin.

"I forgot you're too lazy," she said and rubbed her eyes and gave a sigh.

"I'm not lazy. I just have to save my energy for Quidditch," he replied.

"Oh, that explains a lot," she said and rested her head on top of her arms which were on the table.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked warily.

She turned to look at him but she didn't raise her head. She did, however, speak loud enough for their friends to hear. "I mean that if you save your energy for Quidditch, it explains your laziness. You don't have much energy for Quidditch either," she told him.

"Hey!" Black protested over their friend's laughter. Alice just buried her face in her folded arms. Black, taking the opportunity their friends were busy, touched her arm lightly.

Alice looked up. "What?" she almost snapped.

"You okay?" Black asked lowly and not mockingly.

"I feel like crap," she said quietly.

"Go to Pomfrey," he suggested.

"I will, during lunchtime," she murmured. He only nodded at this.

/

Classes went rather slow for Alice, who wasn't feeling any better. In fact, she'd gradually begun to feel worse. So bad, in fact, that she felt that during their walks from class to class, her feet would give way and she'd end up falling on her face. She'd stumbled a couple of times already. She didn't know how she'd managed, but she had managed to take notes.

For Black too, unbeknownst to her, classes had gone rather slow. He felt somewhat guilty for provoking her but he needed too see she was fine and the only way to know that was to have her arguing with him again. Still, he didn't bother her; he wouldn't until after she saw Madam Pomfrey.

Finally, it was lunchtime and everyone began heading toward the Great Hall for lunch. The girls were walking ahead of the Marauders, and didn't notice them walking nearby. "I'll be right back," Alice told her friends and they knew where she was going. Emily and Lily walked nodded and went on to lunch.

"I'll see you guys later," Sirius told his friends watching Daniels.

"Where're you going, Pads?" James asked.

"He's obviously going to go to Daniels," Remus supplied. Sirius only nodded and left to go with Daniels.

"You going to Pomfrey?" Alice heard the familiar voice of Sirius Black ask.

She didn't have the energy for this. "Yeah," was all she said before adding, "Can you not bother me right now?" she queried sincerely. She really didn't feel like having a full blown argument at the moment.

He frowned. "I don't want to argue with you… yet," he said and grinned.

She just rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever, Black," she said and stumbled slightly, but he didn't miss it. He took her arm lightly. "I can walk by myself," she told hi but as she wasn't looking where she was going, she tripped.

He steadied her and smirked. "Oh, yes, I can tell," he said.

She tried to scowl. "Shut up," she said and instead linked her arm to his. He raised an eyebrow at this. "If you're going to make sure I don't do a face plant, then I don't want to look like an invalid," she explained. He smirked at her and they made the rest of the walk in silence. Alice felt strange. She'd never linked arms with Sirius freaking Black before. Any physical contact was always her smacking him. This was different and it _felt_ different. It felt… like she could get used to it… she already _did_ feel used to it. Her mind continued in this direction, not knowing Sirius Black was thinking much in the same direction.

It turned out that all Alice needed was a Pepper Up Potion. Alice was released once she was feeling better and the steam stopped coming out of her ears. Black was still there with her. "Thanks, Madam Pomfrey," Alice said with a bright smile.

"Yes, yes, of course dear," the witch replied.

Once outside the Infirmary, Alice said, "Thanks for coming with me, Black."

"Of course Daniels. Anything to have a real argument with you brighten my day," Black replied with a smile. Alice decided she liked his smile.

She smiled back at him. "And of course, why would I want to deny you the pleasure of our lovely arguments?" she queried and rolled her eyes at him as they made their way to the Great Hall.

"Does that mean you're willing to give me other pleasures?" he asked her with a smirk and waggled his eyebrows.

She laughed at this and didn't notice the strange look Black gave her. "Only in your dreams, Black," she said.

"Ah, so you _are_ willing to give them to me," he told her.

"Of course not," she said slyly as she grinned, "Not when I'm not getting anything in return."

"I'm sure we can fix that," he said with a grin to match hers. To make his point, he put an arm around her shoulders.

She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled down at her too. "You know, this is going to be bad for our reputation, us not arguing all this time and you with your arm where it is," she told him teasingly, changing the subject. She didn't want to pursue that conversation, not with him.

"Maybe Hogwarts needs to see a change with us not arguing," he told her nonchalant, not like he was feeling. They stopped walking. They were already near the Great Hall.

She looked at him wondering if he was implying what she thought he was implying, but outwardly she looked as casual as him. "You think so?" she asked and raised an eyebrow.

"I think so. Besides, imagine their reactions. It'll be great… well, aside from the awesome pranks, of course," he said and grinned.

She smiled and shook her head. "I don't know. It might come as too much of a shock to everyone," she rejoined looking at him.

He looked at her too, a soft smile on his features. "Maybe you shouldn't worry so much about everyone else," he told her.

Alice looked at him a moment before she shook her head slightly and looked away. Slowly, she stepped away feeling strange, confused. She felt as if something were lodged in her throat and so she cleared it. "I don't think Hogwarts is ready for us, Black," she said.

He was silent a moment and she didn't she the quick flash of disappointment. Then he grinned at her. "Well, I guess we'll just have to keep our reputation then."

She was thankful for his playful manner and she grinned at him too. She felt relieved but confused and not entirely happy. "Guess you're right," she said. Then, they went into the Great Hall.

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	4. Unexpected Findings

**DISCLAIMER! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling! **

**A/N: **Thanks to _OliveTreeHugger, wisegirlwiseeyes, JaneSkye _and _SiriusObsession _for their awesome reviews! You guys are the best! Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter. And remember to review! =]

~.~.~

_It was finally the first weekend they were all to spend at Hogwarts and they were all looking forward to it. It was Saturday morning and the girls and the Marauders were in the common room. As usual, Alice and Black were having an argument while the rest watched amused. Emily noticed Potter sitting near Lily and for once, Lily either didn't notice or didn't mind. Emily hoped it was the latter. She personally thought they made a cute couple and that Lily secretly fancied Potter as well. Also, Alice and Black would probably make a good couple, considering they always argued about the most trivial things and actually seemed to__enjoy__bantering with each other. Now Lupin... well, even as she thought the name in her head she__couldn't help the slight blush. She'd fancied him for a while. He was just so quiet and understanding. He was the most level-headed of the Marauders and the one who stuck more to the rules, though he seemed to have a knack for bending them from time to time. Emily and her two friends knew about his lycanthropy and so knew why he was gone every full moon, but he had no idea the girls knew this. She was honestly surprised nobody else noticed, but she supposed that was a good thing._

_"Kate," the voice brought her back to reality. She looked up and blushed when she saw Lupin looking down at her._

_"Yeah?" she asked not knowing what else to say._

_"We're going down to breakfast," he said simply. She looked around and realized he was right. So, she stood and walked with him to the Great Hall._

_"So, how are your classes going so far?" Lupin asked. _

_"It's going good. I guess it's going good for you too." She replied with a smile. _

_"Yeah, it is actually. The best part is that life at Hogwarts is never boring." Lupin told with a grin. _

_"Too true!" Emily replied. _

_They reached the Great Hall and Emily took her place next to Alice and Lily while Lupin sat down next to the rest of the Marauders. Lupin saw Professor McGonagall come towards Emily and give her a letter. "Miss Kate, I received this letter from your parents but I am not aware of what the letter is about." McGonagall told her. _

_"Thanks Professor. Did my parents send you any message of some sort?" Emily questioned curiously. _

_"No, just the letter." Saying that, McGonagall left._

_Emily opened the envelope and took out the letter. The others watched as she read the letter and waited for her to finish reading it. Suddenly, her face went pale and her hands were trembling. She quickly got up and ran out of the Great Hall. _

_Lily and Alice looked at each other in alarm and were about to follow Emily when Lupin said, "Wait, I'll go see what's wrong." _

_"Are you sure?" Lily asked, feeling a bit hesitant. _

_"Lily, let him go. I'm sure he can help." Potter told her quietly. Lily looked at Alice with an expression that said "__What should we do?" _

_"Let him go," was all Alice said. _

_I_

_Remus left the Great Hall and looked around for Kate but he couldn't find her. So, he went to the Common Room, thinking that was where she'd probably be. When he reached the portrait, he told the password and entered. Sure enough, there was Kate, crying her eyes out. Personally he was a bit taken aback by her tears since he had never seen her cry so bitterly. But he didn't let it show and went towards her. _

_Remus sat down next to Kate and pulled her close to him. He didn't say anything as he knew it would probably make her cry more. After sometime, her crying subsided and Remus felt it was safe to talk. "What happened?" He whispered. _

_Kate didn't reply, she just gave him the letter and said, "Read it." _

_Remus took the letter from her and began to read:_

_Dear Emily, _

_This letter is regarding your brother. He was bitten by a werewolf last night and is under_

_critical condition. We didn't want to worry you but on the other hand, we had to tell you. Please Emily, we know you will be really upset about this, so if you need anything just write to us okay? We'll let you know about Dan's condition after a few days. _

_Love_

_Mom_

_After Remus read the letter, he put it down. His face was void of any emotion but Kate could see that he was struggling not to act shocked….or sad. Or maybe both. "I'm sorry," Remus told Kate. He really didn't know what else to say._

_I_

_"Why did it happen to him Lupin?" Emily asked quietly. "He didn't deserve it. I feel like it should have been me. Anyone but him." _

_As he watched her depressed expression, he felt like crying. But he knew that he had to be strong for her. "Listen to me Kate. Sometimes, things happen that is out of our control and they are unexpected. The thing about unexpected things is that sometimes they are great and other times they are not. We just have to accept it and hope for the best." Lupin told her gently. _

_"But it's so hard to accept some things. Especially when you know that the person didn't deserve it." Emily replied sadly.  
_

_"Kate, your brother is going to be fine, trust me on that one. And you are not going to help him by crying. But you __can __help him by praying for him." Lupin told her with a smile._

_Emily was quite for sometime before she replied, "I guess you're right. Thanks Lupin," she replied with a small smile. _

_"Of course I'm right. Personally, I think that's the reason the others want to be my friends." Lupin told her with a grin, attempting to break the tension._

_It must have worked because Emily laughed slightly and replied, "Well, I don't know about the others but it's definitely the reason why __I __want to be your friend." She told with a grin._

_Lupin just laughed and said, "So, are you ready to go and tell Lily & Alice? They were really worried." _

_Emily sighed heavily. "No, I'm not ready to tell them…yet. But I promise I'll tell them after sometime. I hope that's okay," she said looking at Lupin._

_"Of course, I have no objections. You can just tell them whenever you're ready…unless, you want me to tell them?" Lupin questioned. _

_"No, it's okay. I think they should hear it from me." Emily told him quietly. _

_Suddenly, the portrait door opened and they saw Black come in. "Is everything okay?" He asked when he saw Lupin and Emily. _

_"Yeah, it's fine Sirius." Lupin replied. "Can you just excuse me and Kate from our classes? I'll explain everything later. Please." Lupin asked Black. _

_Black looked at Lupin for a few seconds before replying, "Sure, I'll do that. You still owe us an explanation." He left the Common Room._

_I _

_Remus felt Kate come closer to him and lean her head on his shoulder. "It's still unfair you know." She whispered._

_"I know, but like I said no point in thinking about it. You know, there's this saying: __Hope for the best, expect the worst. Life is a play and we are all unrehearsed.__ Just think how much it applies to our life. So, like I said before, just pray for your brother and he'll be fine." Remus told her quietly. _

_She didn't say anything but Remus was sure that she heard him. Neither of them said anything, after all there was no need to say anything. Remus just held her close as he thought, __'Something is wrong.' __He didn't know that Kate was thinking the same thing._

_**So, what'd you think? Just click the button and leave us a review please! =] **_


	5. Passing Notes

**DISCLAIMER! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling!**

**A/N: **Okay, some clarifications first. We've been getting reviews and we thank you for bringing this into perspective. One, the Alice in this story is _not_ Alice Longbottom; I believe that by this time she was already graduated (I also believe her maiden name was McKinnon). My apologies if I'm wrong about that. Second, Emily's full name is Emily Kate. I know this might have confused some of you, but just so you know "Emily" and "Kate" is the same person. This may all be a little late, but here it is. Sorry, for any confusion!

_And thank you all who have reviewed and who have been constant reviewers! You guys rock!_

~.~.~

James had woken up early that Sunday. The reason for this rare occurrence was because Remus had said he was going to tell them something that morning concerning the letter Kate had gotten the day before. It was strange that he was worried with what could be wrong, she had looked very bad, and not like her light self. Not only was she a friend of Evans, Remus seemed to be interested in her, and she was also a good person, the only one who seemed to be able to end the arguments between Sirius and Daniels most of the time. Snapping out of his thoughts he walked into the bathroom.

He stared at his reflection for a moment before sighing. Whatever he was going to do was interrupted when the door opened. James started at this. He stared at the redhead through the mirror and blinked. "Evans?" he asked.

She was attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes with one hand while carrying her clothes in her other hand and yawning. It was quite the endearing sight to James. She blinked sleepily. "Good morn – ah! What are you doing here!" she asked suddenly awake.

He looked at her confused. "Um, I came to get ready?"

"B-but it's early!"

"I've been known to get up early once in a while. Sorry, but you're going to have to wait. I promise I won't take long though," he told her.

She stared at him a moment. Finally, she said, "This is about Emily isn't it?"

He shifted his gaze away. "Remus said he'd tell us because Kate didn't mind," he said. "It's big, isn't it?"

"She must really like and trust you all then. Yeah, it's big. And if you even make a stupid comment or tell anybody, I swear Potter, I'll hex you until you're unrecognizable," she warned.

"Well, when you put it so sweetly I can't help but say okay," he said with a small smile. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the bathroom, leaving James alone.

After a while he was ready and he walked out of the bathroom. "The bathroom's all yours Evans, enjoy!" he said with a grin.

Her lips quirked but she rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever," she said and walked into the bathroom. After making sure she had gone in, he hurried to the Gryffindor seventh year dorm. When he got there he was slightly out of breath. The others were already awake but only Remus was ready. "I tried to get here as soon as I could," James said and took a seat on Sirius' bed facing Remus and Peter. "So, what's the big news?"

Remus looked at them seriously and got to the point quite bluntly. "Kate's younger brother was bitten by a werewolf."

It was silent for some time before Sirius broke it. "How did Kate react?" he asked.

"She cried and was sad and upset about it, anyone in their right mind would be… but she wasn't disgusted at all. Don't be stupid about it when you see her," Remus warned.

"Moony, we're not idiotic gits like the Slytherins; we won't say or do something stupid. We'll be nice to your girlfriend," James said and the last part was said teasingly and the other two chuckled.

Remus glared at them but he was blushing. "Shut up, that has nothing to do with it," he snapped.

"Of course not," Sirius said with an innocent voice though he was giving a mischievous smile.

Remus groaned and rolled his eyes. "Take your teasing to Daniels, not me. Now, go get ready," he said and stood.

"Yes mum," Sirius muttered and he and Peter went to get ready.

Once they were done they went downstairs where they went toward the girls who were there. "Morning lovely ladies," Sirius greeted with a grin.

"Good morning gits… well, except for Lupin and Pettigrew… oh, fine, and Potter," Daniels replied and they knew she was trying to keep the mood light… or at least normal.

Sirius decided to play along for Kate's sake… and he liked arguing with Daniels, so that was a plus. "Hey!" he protested. "That lovely ladies comment wasn't meant for you," he retaliated.

"Like I said, a git," Daniels countered.

James decided to intervene and try to keep the mood light as well. It seemed like Kate needed it. "Anyway, I'm sure my more mature friends don't need to listen to this, so we shall leave Sirius and Daniels. They'll either kiss and make up or kill each other; although, the second option is more likely. My money's on Daniels by the way," James stated with a grin.

"Hey!" Sirius protested.

"Oh, look, Potter's smart. I'm so proud," Daniels said in mock pride.

"Oh, I'm so flattered by your words," James responded in mock surprise and gave a bow.

Kate looked at them and laughed. They stared at her and the boys (and the girls of course) couldn't help but smile. When she caught them she blushed. "You three are so silly," she commented.

Sirius, Daniels, and James smiled again. "We try," they said in unison causing Kate to laugh again. Sirius and Daniels shared a look. Shortly after they decided to go down to breakfast. As they walked Evans stayed behind a little to talk to James alone.

"Hey, Potter?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

His breath caught slightly when she smiled at him. "Thanks… you're really okay with this, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, it's not her or her family's fault," he said and shrugged. She smiled again and caught up with the others.

_**I**_

"So, is this going to be just another ordinary day?" Black asked his fellow his Marauders. The others stared at him oddly for a minute. "What? I was just asking a genuine question." He responded.

Lupin was about to reply when he caught Potter staring at Lily. He just shook his head and whispered to the others, "When do you think he is going to stop doing that?"

"He is not going to stop unless Evans professes her undying love for him." Black replied with a grin.

Potter turned towards them at the mention of Lily. "I heard 'Evans' and 'undying love.' Who does she love?" He asked somewhat angry.

His friends stared at him for a moment before they started laughing. "Prongs, she does not love anyone. We were just messing with you. Well, maybe she does love someone secretly…" Black suggested with a mischievous smile.

Potter was about to reply when the girls came towards them. "Ready to go to class boys?" Lily asked them.

The Marauders stared at each other before Lupin said, "We forgot about breakfast." And with that that, the boys started filling their plates with food. "Hey, we _are_ growing boys after all." Potter said as a way of explanation when the girls were staring at them.

"Well…I guess we'll see you in class then." Alice replied and the girls left the Great Hall.

When they were away from hearing range, Emily asked Lily, "Did you notice that Potter was staring at you in the Great Hall?"

Lily blushed slightly at the mention of his name. She still thought about the talk they had that night while they were patrolling. _Well, it's definitely something to remember, _she thought.

"No, I didn't notice. What's the big deal anyway?" She asked shrugging her shoulders.

Emily and Alice shared a look. "You like him!" They told in unison.

"What? I most definitely do _not _like Potter. I think you've lost it. I'm going to class." And she walked away from them.

"So, what do you think?" Emily asked her friend. Alice pretended to think for a moment, "Lily's not yet reached there, but she's about to. Unlike you who has already reached there with a certain other Marauder." Alice told with a cheeky grin.

"Huh, looks like we all _three _have Marauder fever, don't we Alice?" Emily replied smugly.

"Hey, I do not like Black, if that's what you are insinuating." Alice protested. Emily just grinned and they both walked to class.

_**II**_

Evans was sitting in the Transfiguration classroom in her usual seat while Daniels and Kate were sitting behind her. "Why are you both sitting behind me again?" Evans asked her friends.

"Because we know that Potter will want to sit with you." Daniels replied with a grin.

As if on cue, Evans heard James' voice ask, "Hey Lily, can I sit here?"

"Sure Potter, no problem." She replied with a smile.

Class soon began and as soon as Professor McGonagall started teaching, Evans began to take notes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James writing something on a piece of parchment.

He slid the parchment across the table to Evans. She looked at him before she took the parchment. His elegant handwritten words said: _I'm really feeling bored Lily. _

She looked at him in surprise as if to say 'Are you feeling alright?' but James just shrugged. She wrote on the parchment, _Shouldn't you be taking notes like everyone else?_ Evans passed the paper the paper to James making sure that McGonagall didn't see her and he took it.

James grinned slightly and looked at Evans. _Wow, he _does _look cute when he smiles, _she thought randomly. _Stop it, _she told herself. _This is Potter we're talking about, _her voice told her.

She felt James pass the parchment. On it was scrawled, _I'll just take the notes from Remus. Anyway, I was wondering if you were interested in going to Hogsmeade with us. _

Before she could write a reply, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Daniels. "What are you doing?" she asked Evans quietly. Making sure that McGonagall wasn't looking her way, she whispered, "Passing notes with Potter. Will explain later."

She quickly wrote down a reply and passed the parchment to James. He took the parchment from her and read the reply, _Sounds like fun. But have to check with Alice and Emily._

James looked at Evans but she was busy taking notes. He shook his head amusedly. _Same old Lily, _he thought to himself.

Finally the bell rang and the students jumped out of their seats. "So Prongs, were you passing love letters to Evans?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

"No, I wasn't. I just asked her if she wanted to come to Hogsmeade with us, that's all." James retorted.

Before Sirius could reply, Daniels came to them and replied, "Thanks for the invite Potter, we'd love to come. But does _he _really have to come?" She asked staring pointedly at Sirius.

"I'm looking forward to spending time with you too Daniels. It's going to be fun." Sirius replied with a grin.

She stared at Sirius before replying, "See you guys later." And she went to catch up with Evans and Kate.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Peter asked his friends.

Sirius put an arm around Peter and replied, "Relax Pettigrew, it's just a fun trip. Not like anything is going to happen."

But Sirius knew that his friends caught his meaning. Which is exactly why the others were worried. "We'll wait and see." Remus said and they all walked to their next class.

**Once again, thanks a lot for the reviews guys! Keep it coming! =]**


	6. Going to Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling!**

**A/N: **Firstly, we want to thank everyone for the awesome reviews! Keep it coming guys! You rock! And _thanks to 1crazycullen for subscribing to our story!_ Well, here's what is going to happen in Hogsmeade…hope you enjoy!

The week went by and it was already the weekend but the students were not all complaining. In fact, the Marauders and the girls were looking forward to the trip. But the girls were trying to finish some of their homework in the Common Room while the guys were planning something up in their dorm.

"So, are we doing anything special or is it just a normal trip?" Remus asked his friends.

"I think we should make this a normal trip since this is the first time the girls are agreeing to go with us to Hogsmeade. And I really want to make a good impression on Lily. What do you think?" James asked.

"But why can't we play a prank or something?" Sirius whined. "It'll be so much fun!"

"You just want to fight with Daniels again, right Padfoot?" Peter retorted while James and Remus started laughing.

"Hey, I don't _want _to fight with her, it just happens." Sirius protested. "Besides, it's not like she has any problem fighting with me." He pointed out.

"That is because you both are trying to deny your emotions by arguing with each other all the time." Remus told wisely.

James pretended to think for a minute. "You know, Padfoot, that actually makes sense. Which means, you like Daniels….a lot!" He told with a grin. "After all, you were very concerned about her the day she was not feeling well…"

"I was just trying to be friendly okay? Just because we fight, does not mean we are not friends." Sirius said with a shrug.

But from the way his friends were staring at him, he could tell that they didn't believe a word of it. _Oh, what's the point in hiding it from them_, he thought miserably. "Alright, fine. I like her. There, I admitted it." Black declared.

James, Remus and Peter exclaimed, "Finally!" Black just laughed at their reaction.

"So, does that mean this is going to be a normal trip?" James asked hopefully.

"Sure. If you're going to capture Lily's attention, guess I'm going to have to do the same with Daniels." Sirius replied.

"Well, since I'm already on Kate's good side, I don't have to worry about capturing her attention." Remus replied with a smug grin.

"Know-it-all." Sirius and James muttered but Lupin just grinned.

_**I**_

"Are you sure we have to go with them?" Alice was asking her friends referring to their upcoming Hogsmeade trip with the Marauders.

Lily rolled her eyes and replied, "Yes Alice, we have to go. We agreed to it remember? What's the big deal anyway?"

"I just don't want Black to be there. We're just going to end up fighting anyway." Alice muttered.

"How about you just try talking to him?" Lily suggested. "I'm sure you both have something in common. Right Emily?" She asked.

When Emily didn't reply, Alice asked, "What's wrong?"

"I just can't stop thinking about my brother. I hope he is okay." Emily replied quietly.

Lily and Alice looked at each other helplessly. They really had no idea what to say. It seemed that Emily was in a good mood only when they were with the Marauders because they made her forget about it.

"Hey, how about we just dump the homework and go find the guys?" Alice finally suggested.

"Sure." Emily replied and they all put away their homework.

"Wait, I think they are up in their dorm. We'll just wait for them here." Lily told them.

As if on cue, the Marauders came down, laughing at some joke that Black had told. "Hey girls!" He greeted when he saw them.

Without a word, Lily went to Potter and grabbed his arm and pulled him away. "Emily is miserable Potter. And Alice & I have no idea what to do. So, got anything funny?" Lily asked hopefully.

"I'll check with the others, I'm sure we can come up with something." Potter replied reassuringly. "Oh and Lily?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"You're still holding my arm." He replied with a smirk.

Lily blushed and pulled her hand away from his arm. "No need to smirk Potter." She muttered under her breath.

"Oh, I know but I enjoyed those two minutes you did hold my hand." He told her with a grin and moved away from her.

"Hey, how about we go to Hogsmeade now? That is, if no one has any objections." Potter announced to the others. Everyone murmured their agreement and Potter replied, "Great, we'll meet back here in an hour."

The girls walked towards the dormitories and Potter heard Lily mumble a "Thank you" to him as she passed. He just smiled to himself.

"Thanks Prongs, seems like Kate needed that." Lupin told.

"No problem. Now come on, let's go get ready." Potter said. And with that, they made their way towards their dormitories.

_**II**_

After an hour, they all met in the Common Room. All of them were dressed casually in Muggle clothes and Evans also had a camera with her.

"Huh, who knew? You can actually look good Daniels." Sirius told teasingly.

"Oh please! You talk as if you are Witch Weekly's Most Handsome Wizard." Daniels retorted.

"Well, not yet but someday I will earn that title." Sirius told with a grin.

Before Daniels could get a witty comeback, Remus intervened. "Uh…guys, can you both please stop it and just let it go?"

"Fine." They both told in unison and walked away from each other.

"Crazy nuts." Remus muttered under his breath and Emily giggled slightly. He turned to look at her with an amused smile. "What? I agree with you…they _are _crazy nuts." Kate said defensively.

"Alright people, let's go." Sirius announced. And with that, they all left the Common Room.

Once they reached Hogsmeade (after much arguing and chasing), it was difficult to decide where they would go first, seeing as they all had different things they liked. After some consideration (in which Sirius and Daniels argued to make their points), it was decided that they should go to Honeydukes.

"You actually _like_ Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans?" Remus asked Kate as she took two boxes.

She looked at him. "Yeah, I mean, what other sweet gives you the thrill of exploration?" she asked with a smile.

Remus returned the smile and said, "You're a brave soul, Kate."

This made her laugh. "Well, why else would I be in Gryffindor other than because I like exploring sweets?"

Now it was Remus' turn to laugh. "Huh, good point. Well, I like staying safe, so I'll go for the chocolate."

"Of course. I mean, you're brave enough having to have friends like Potter and Black… not that it's bad, but it must try your patience," Kate said with a grin.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," he said with a grin to match hers.

James and Evans were getting along fine themselves, and Peter (who was with them) smiled. "So, what kind of sweet do you like Evans?" James asked as he looked at the shelf in front of him.

"Hm, I really like the Pumpkin Pasties. I could have loads of those… if getting sick wasn't an option of course," Evans replied.

James grinned. "I like Pumpkin Pasties too… but Ice Mice are good too," he commented.

This made Evans laugh. "Wouldn't have expected anything less, Potter," she said and then asked Peter, "How about you?"

Peter thought for a moment. "Hm, I like Fizzing Whizbees," he said with a sheepish smile.

Sirius and Daniels, who'd had no choice in being together seeing as their friends apparently didn't want additional company, were looking around. Daniels was the first one to speak. "Sugar Quills!" she exclaimed rushing over to the shelf where they were held. She picked up a box and examined it before taking another one. She smiled a wide smile.

"I take it you like Sugar Quills?" he asked with a grin as he made his way to her.

"How observant," she muttered and rolled her eyes.

"Of course I am. I bet nobody else but me noticed you like Sugar Quills. I mean, it's not like anybody else heard you or anything," he said with his grin still in place.

"Oh, shut up," she said hugging the boxes to her.

This amused Sirius greatly. "I like Sugar Quills too," he said and she hugged the boxes tighter, making Sirius laugh. "Don't worry, I don't plan on stealing them," he added taking a box of his own. "Hm, I think I'll take a box of these too, I like Chocoballs," he said taking a box of them.

Daniels looked at him strangely. "You _like_ Chocoballs?" she asked sounding almost incredulous.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

Her eyes narrowed as she took a box. "Huh, I thought I'd never see this day. I happen to like them too."

"Weird," Sirius stated and she agreed. Soon after that they all went to pay for their goods.

"Next stop is Zonko's," James announced with a grin. The boys (minus Remus) and Daniels seemed excited about this though Evans and Kate (and consequently Remus) looked wary.

All of them entered the shop and before actually going anywhere, they stopped to observe their options. Daniels, however, wasn't examining anything, she was looking for something. When she found it she grinned. "Dungbombs!" she shouted and began the process of rushing toward them.

"No!" Kate and Evans shouted and launched themselves at her, preventing her from running anywhere.

"Let go! I won't do that again, I promise!" Daniels protested as she struggled to get away.

"Um," Evans said to the amused Marauders, "we'll, uh, wait for you outside," she said and began dragging Daniels away.

"Yeah," Kate agreed and helped Evans drag Daniels out.

"What? No! This isn't fair! I said I wouldn't do it again! Honest!" they heard Daniels say until the door closed.

The Marauders shared amused grins and laughs at Daniels. "Wonder what's going on?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know but whatever it is must've been big," James answered.

"Makes me wonder what she did in the first place," Remus commented and his friends agreed. Then they began to look around.

When they came out, Daniels wasn't struggling anymore, but she looked defeated. She sighed, looking at the things they'd bought longingly. "Not fair," she muttered.

"Hey, why wouldn't you let Daniels go in?" Peter asked looking genuinely curious.

"Because the first time we went in there, we regretted ever letting Alice discover such a store," Evans explained.

"I said I wouldn't do it again," Daniels complained lowly and pouted. Sirius looked at her and wanted to pat her on the head imagining what it'd be like not being able to go into Zonko's.

"What happened?" Remus asked curiously.

"Remember that prank you guys didn't do in third year? The one in the hallway with the Dungbombs?" Kate asked.

"Yeah… wait! You don't mean to say _Daniels_ was the one… wow," James said with wide eyes as he looked at Daniels.

Daniels' eyes lit up when she looked at James. "Yeah! That was me! And I did it all by myself because they wouldn't help me. Still, it was so much fun… especially because the Slytherins got most of it, I couldn't help but…" Daniels trailed off when she noticed her friends unamused faces. "But I said I wouldn't do it if you let me go in," she said reverting to her pouting self.

"That's what we're afraid of. You're older now, which probably means you'll do something worse," Evans said knowledgeably.

"Hmph," was all Daniels said and crossed her arms over her chest. After a short moment, they were deciding on where to go.

"I want to go to the book store," Kate said and Remus and Evans agreed.

"But why can't we go to the Quidditch store instead?" Daniels asked with big, puppy eyes.

"That's not going to work, Alice," Evans said.

"You've done it too many times for it to work," Kate agreed.

"Fine, but I still think we should go to the Quidditch store. I mean, what's so great about the book store?" after a pause she said, "Nevermind, forget I asked."

So it was soon decided that James, Sirius, Peter, and Daniels would go to the Quidditch store, while the others went to the book store. Once they were done, they were to meet at the Three Broomsticks. As they walked toward the Quidditch store Sirius asked Daniels, "What was it that Evans said wouldn't work anymore?"

"My puppy eyes," she said with a sigh looking dejected.

"What?" James asked.

She turned her head to him, Sirius, and Peter. "My puppy eyes," she explained giving them said eyes. "I overused it, I guess," she said going back to her normal self.

"Must have taken them practice to get over it," James commented.

Daniels grinned. "Yeah, loads of practice," she answered. Sirius thought that he'd need even more practice than Evans and Kate for it to not work on him. Not that he'd tell her that.

Sirius took Daniels wrist to stop her before going into the store, letting James and Peter go ahead of him. "What do you want?" she asked him trying to sound annoyed.

"Well, since you couldn't go into the joke shop, I thought it'd be wise to bring something back. Here," he said and gave her a bag.

Daniels examined it before her eyes widened. "No way! Awesome! Oooh, this should be good," she said with a grin.

"Make sure it is," Sirius said with his own grin. Daniels hid the merchandise and they went inside.

"Thanks," she told Sirius a bit later.

"Wow, you actually thanked me," Sirius said looking amused.

"Hm, just be glad I'm actually bothering to thank you, Black," she answered and he just grinned.

It was a long time before the four left the Quidditch store, though they didn't buy anything. They were heading toward the Three Broomsticks when they saw the others ahead of them. The four called out to them and together the group went inside to the warmth of the place.

After finding a table large enough for all of them, they ordered Butterbeer. James and Evans were sitting together as were Remus and Kate. Peter was sitting next to Sirius, who was sitting next to Daniels. It was most definitely a tight fit. Sirius and Daniels arms kept brushing. Nobody seemed to notice the light blush they both had, and even though they kept at their bantering, it was hard to keep it normal.

After they were done with their Butterbeers they decided to go back, after a long day. They all walked in pairs, except for Peter who went with James. Sirius and Daniels were oddly quiet as they walked together. Sirius decided to break it. "Long day, huh?" he asked.

Daniels blinked and looked at him. She smiled slightly. "Yes, but it was fun, don't you think?"

"Definitely," Sirius agreed with a grin. He put an arm around Daniels, who looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "How about doing this again next Hogsmeade trip?" he asked boldly.

She pretended to consider it. "Hm, well, I'll have to see. You know, maybe next time you could… oh, I don't know, pay for my Butterbeer?" she asked.

He grinned at her. "You've got yourself a deal," he said his arm still around her. And with that, they reached Hogwarts.

***Please review! ShatteredHeart-BlueSapphire would like to apologize for the last half of the chapter, if you (the reader) is not satisfied with it, of course. But please, take the time to review. Also, we won't be updating in a while because my partner is on a trip. Sorry for the inconvinence.**


	7. Asking Emily To The Ball

**Disclaimer! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling! **

**A/N: This is Silver Scorpion. Now I know that my partner ShatteredHeart-BlueSapphire told I was on a trip and all but luckily internet connection is available so we can continue with the story.**

_And thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter! _

It was Sunday evening and the students found themselves flooded with homework, except for the Head Boy and Head Girl who were busy planning for a ball that was to be held on Halloween night. Seemingly, Professor Dumbledore always ended up too ecstatic whenever Halloween was near. And this time he felt that it holding a ball would be a great way to celebrate. Students from the Fourth years to Seventh years were allowed to attend to this occasion.

"Oh, great. I can't believe we have to organize the whole thing!" James complained to Evans in the Heads Common Room.

Evans rolled her eyes at his complaint. "Oh come on Potter, it won't be that hard. It's just a ball!"

"Ha, easy for you to say. You probably have everything planned out already." James commented.

"No, I'm as clueless as you are. The only thing I ever did for Halloween was go out asking for candy dressed up in some costume…you know, the traditional stuff. But I'm sure we can do it." Evans replied with a smile.

"Hm, I never did any of those things but it does sound like fun. Let's just say that Halloween always ended up being too formal for me." James told. "Hey, do you have a date for the Ball?" He asked curiously.

Evans shook her head. "No, I don't. I was actually thinking about Emily. She should really ask Lupin to the Ball, I bet he would agree to go with her." She replied.

Suddenly, James had an idea. "Hey, how about we…help them out a bit?" He suggested with a mischievous grin.

Evans knew that look very well. It was sort of the look he had when he was about to do something that was Marauder-ish. "What do you have in mind?" She asked him.

"Let's just let the others know first, except for Remus and Kate and then if they agree, I'll tell you. Is that okay?" James asked.

"Sure, no problem. How about we do it now? I'm not in the mood for organizing stuff." Evans asked with a smile.

James nodded and they both the left the Heads Common Room.

_**I**_

They reached the Gryffindor Common Room and found their friends doing their homework together in a corner. All of them were there except for Lupin and Emily.

"Hey, where have Kate and Remus gone?" Potter asked Black.

"Oh, they both are in the library because they wanted to check out a book or something." Black replied. "Why, what's wrong?"

Potter and Lily each grabbed a chair and took a seat. "Well, I have this great idea where Remus and Kate will end up going to the Ball together, but I'm going to need all of your help." Potter explained.

"How do you know they both like each other?" Alice asked just to make sure how much Potter knew.

"Oh please! I see the way they stare at each other when they think we're not looking. Don't play dumb with me Daniels, I know you see it too." Potter replied with a smirk.

Alice rolled her eyes and replied, "Alright, fine. Just checking. I'll definitely help, how about you both?" She asked Black and Pettigrew.

"Hey James, what happened to never interfering in your friends' love lives?" Black asked innocently although his tone was not so innocent.

"I know I said that but they are not going to do it unless someone pushes them. And Sirius, that was specifically meant for you." Potter replied giving Black a knowing look.

Black waved it off and replied, "Okay, okay, I guess me and Peter are also going to help. So, what's the plan?" He asked.

"I was thinking that we could do this in Marauder style. You know, a lot of fancy stuff like we do in our pranks except this time we'll focus on how Remus is going to ask Kate. What do you think?" Potter asked.

"Ooh, that sounds great. Emily will totally love it! Besides, she could really use a huge distraction like that." Alice commented.

"Hm, Marauder style huh? I'm not sure but however it turns out, but Alice is right, Emily will love it. Mostly because Remus is the one asking her out in the first place." Lily told with a grin.

"I love that idea, this is going to be so awesome!" Black replied. "You know, James you're becoming more and more like me. I mean, I expected you to come up with an idea like those sappy romantic movies, but you want to do it…Marauder style! I'm so proud of you." And he wiped away a fake tear.

"I know, I'm actually worried about this unusual behavior of mine." Potter replied with a smirk. "Anyway, the dance is in two weeks. So, we need to get whatever supplies we may need and we need to plan out everything perfectly." Potter explained. "So, we have to find the right place and time where Remus will ask Kate. Now, we will tell him but we cannot tell Kate because this is supposed to be a surprise for her, alright?" He instructed.

"Um..Potter, it's almost time for dinner and we better get some work done today or it will just pile up." Lily told him, looking at her watch.

"I guess you're right. Sirius, you and Peter tell Remus about the plan and remember, don't mention a word about it to Kate." Potter told and left with Lily.

_**II**_

At dinner, no one talked about the plan since Kate was also present. The Marauders decided to tell Remus right after dinner. Everyone ended up discussing about the Hogsmeade trip and how much fun it was.

"You know, I told Daniels that we should totally do it again." Sirius told the others.

"That sounds nice. I never knew hanging out with the Marauders could be so much fun." Evans commented.

"Oh Lily, I'm so hurt to know that you underestimated the Marauders." James replied with a grin.

"Get over it Potter, I'm sure people underestimate you all the time." Evans replied with a teasing grin. James just smiled sheepishly indicating that what she said was indeed true.

The rest of the dinner turned out to be uneventful. Evans went straight to the Heads Dorm to wait for James since they had to do patrols, while he went along with guys just to inform Remus about the plan. When they got to their room, the rest of the Marauders explained the whole thing to Remus as he listened with obvious interest.

"Prongs, I congratulate you on this wonderful idea." Remus told with a grin once the Marauders were done explaining.

"Hey, it was bound to happen some day." James replied. "So, I'm guessing we are going to need some firecrackers, colorful lights, flowers and some empty place where we won't be disrupted." He suggested.

"Oh yeah, it can be sort of like sky-writing like, 'Will you go to the Ball with me Emily?' or something like that. What do you think Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, that sounds promising. Plus, it'll look great with the lights and firecrackers." Remus replied excitedly.

"So, now we just need to find the place and get the supplies right?" Peter asked James.

"Yes. We can probably get the supplies on our next Hogsmeade trip, which will give me and Lily time to do some of the organizing." James explained. "Hopefully we'll find a place soon enough. I better get going, have patrolling to do." He told them 'goodnight' and left.

"I hope this works, but either way, I'm still grateful to you guys for doing this." Remus told with a smile.

"It's nothing but you _are_ welcome." Sirius replied with a grin.

_**III**_

So, finally the day came, where everything had been set up. Even with six people in on it, it wasn't an easy task. For one, they had Filch and that darn cat Mrs. Norris to worry about. And of course, there were the Slytherins. And nobody could forget about the staff especially there own Head of House, Professor McGonagall. They had to be careful not be seen sneaking around. Especially when one Head Boy and once or twice the Head Girl would leave Hogwarts to go to Hogsmeade to buy the necessary equipment… because the Hogsmeade trip ended up… not being very helpful.

That morning wasn't exactly the best. The Marauders, and the two girls woke up rather groggily and most unwillingly. The only one who seemed in good spirits was Emily, but of course, she was also the only one oblivious to the drastic scheme. It had been decided (even against Remus' wishes) that an empty place just wouldn't do it, because that wasn't the Marauder style after all. For it to be in true Marauder fashion, there had to be a crowd, and what better place than in the Great Hall during breakfast? And thusly it was settled… by majority vote.

"Lupin, are you okay? You look kind of… fidgety," Emily told Remus that morning as she ate her breakfast next to him.

"But he's always fidgety, Kate," James said with a grin.

"Git," Remus muttered under his breath and Emily, who had heard him, smothered a giggle.

"Okay, then, but I think Emily means more than usual," Alice commented with chuckle.

"Oh, well that makes more sense," Sirius agreed.

"I just couldn't sleep well," Remus managed looking at his breakfast and picking at it.

"Still, you should eat your breakfast. It's not good to pick at the most important meal of the day," Emily said with worry. "Really? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine… I just… nevermind," Remus said and gave up with a sigh.

"What was that? We couldn't hear you," Sirius said making a show of not being able to hear his friend.

"No, Sirius, _you_ couldn't hear him… you should clean your ears better next time," James said and laughed at his friend's expression. Soon he was joined by the girls and Peter and Remus.

"My point is, everyone in the Great Hall won't be able to hear him if he talks like that," Sirius said with a pout as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Emily frowned confused. "Why would everyone in the Great Hall need to hear him?" she asked.

"N-no reason," Remus stuttered quickly.

"Oh… okay,' Emily said slowly, still confused.

They continued to eat breakfast and Emily was deep in thought. It seemed like Lupin was… _nervous_ about something. And she wondered what it was. Not only that, but her friends and his seemed to have some sort of secret, if going by the way they were acting and their comments were a clue. She really wanted to know what was going on, but if she hadn't been included in this… whatever it was, then it was best to leave things be… for now. Because she was sure that in due time Alice and Lily would tell her.

When it was sure everyone was in the Great Hall, Remus sighed again. "Um, guys, I think I'm ready now," he said quietly to his friends.

Emily turned to him. "Ready for what, Lupin?"

"You'll see," Peter responded for him.

"Oh, goody!" Alice exclaimed with an excited grin on her face. Lily looked about ready to burst while the boys looked… like they were about to pull something Marauder-ish.

"Um, do I _really_ want to know?" Emily asked rather worriedly.

"Of course you do, Kate!" Sirius said with a grin that didn't ease her at all.

James and Sirius both laughed exactly before something that sounded like an explosion took place. Emily flinched but was aware of the fact Lily and Alice didn't, and that they were grinning like crazy. "What's going on!" Emily managed to shout over all the loud cracking noises. The girls didn't reply, instead, they pointed to the ceiling. Following their fingers, Emily looked up to the ceiling and let out a sound of surprise.

Bright fireworks of different colors was the cause of the explosion. Usually, fireworks couldn't be seen during the day, in the enchanted ceiling, but these weren't ordinary fireworks, and thus the colors looked as bright as if it were nighttime. Emily inwardly thought the colors of the fireworks went rather well with the blue of the sky. Once everyone had stopped what they were doing in favor of pointing at said fireworks, something else began to happen. There was a bright orange _light_ and words began to be written in it.

Emily stared curiously along with everyone else when the words began to appear. She smiled with the rest of the girls when the words _Will you go to the Halloween Ball with me_ appeared in the sky, but then her expression changed to utter surprise when she read the last two words… _Emily Kate?_ She gawked at the sky writing and didn't notice Remus standing up next to her. She stopped looking at the sky when she realized everything had gone oddly quiet. It was then she noticed Remus, who looked like he wanted to run away. He was blushing profusely and when she looked at him with wide eyes he stared helplessly at her. She slowly stood up and blinked at him.

"W-will you please do me the h-honor o-of going to the d-dance with m-me?" he asked and nearly shoved his hands toward her where he was holding a single pink rose.

She stared at him and blinked a couple more times while blushing as profusely as him before she slowly took the rose from him. "Yes, I'd be glad to," she finally answered with a shy smile. There were "aww's" from the girls, and nearly after that the Gryffindors exploded into applause, directly followed by the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. The Slytherins, as was expected, were looking disdainfully upon everyone, especially the two Gryffindors, but nobody paid them any mind. Among all the yelling James and Sirius could be heard wolf whistling. Emily and Remus took a seat and she gave him a reassuring smile which he returned rather bashfully. She looked at the staff table to find Dumbledore smiling and when he noticed her looking, he winked. Slughorn looked rather content and McGonagall shook her head but looked slightly amused.

_**IV**_

Remus and Emily had finished their prefect duty of patrolling and had just arrived to the Common Room. It had been a bit awkward after that morning since both teens were naturally shy when put in the spotlight. Still, it had been rather pleasant for them to patrol together. Emily decided to do something of her own before they parted.

"Lupin?" she asked before he turned away. She couldn't help the blush that worked its way up her face when he looked at her like that.

"Yeah?" he asked with an equal blush.

She took a deep breath and then reached out to take one of his hand in both of hers. She looked down at it. "Thank you, Lupin. I know that was hard for you so… thank you for going through the trouble," she told him.

"Hey, Kate?" he asked and waited for her to look at him. "I'd do it again if it got you to go to the ball with me."

She smiled slightly. "You didn't have to, you know," she said.

He gave a half smile that made her feel butterflies in her stomach. "I know, but… as hard as that was, it was worth it… because I was asking you," he said.

She felt a blush that was no doubt as bright as the one he was sporting. "Well, thank you."

"Anytime. Besides, our friends made it happen."

She gave a quite laugh at that. "I figured as much," she said to him and after a quick goodnight, they both went to their respective dormitories.

**Well, there you have it folks! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Press the little button below and review, review….and review! Thanks! =]**


	8. Asking Lily To The Ball

**Hello readers! So sorry since we haven't updated in almost 2 months! But school beckons us from the pleasure of writing. =( Anyways, thanks lots to our previous readers and reviewers! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Potter and Lily were doing their nightly patrol and surprisingly, both of them were in a good mood. In fact, they hadn't even fought today over anything. Potter decided to break the silence.

"Today was a good day, right?" He asked casually.

Lily nodded her head slightly. "Yeah, Emily was quite happy today. I'm pretty sure Lupin was in a pretty much same condition."

"Yes, he was actually. Besides, why wouldn't they be? They're getting to go the ball with the person they would like to go with…unlike, me." Potter replied with a melodramatic sigh.

Lily laughed at that. "Aw, it's okay Potter, I'm sure one of your fanatically obsessed fan-girls would love to go with you."

"Yes well, too bad that none of my fan-girls are a redhead." Potter replied with a smirk. "So, who are you going with?"

Lily blushed slightly and replied, "I haven't asked anyone yet or no one has asked me." Potter was about to say something, but she cut him off. "No Potter, I am not going with you."

"But why not? I promise to be a gentleman with you." He told with a grin.

"Well, your gentlemanly ways are what I'm worried about because you have a totally different definition of that." Lily said with a sweet smile.

Potter seemed to ponder upon this. "You obviously don't know what you're talking about. So, what do I have to do to make you go with me?"

"How about a bet?" Lily asked with a grin.

Potter looked surprised at her proposition but he agreed. "Sure, what's it?"

"If Gryffindor wins the upcoming match against Ravenclaw, I will go to the ball with you." She replied and stuck out her hand. "So, do we have a deal?"

Normally, Potter wouldn't have hesitated. Why would he? Quidditch is one of his specialties. But he did hesitate slightly now, considering that Ravenclaw had won three other matches, and a match against Gryffindor. Should he go for it? As usual, his Lily side took over.

He shook her hand. "It's a deal."

_**I**_

The much awaited match against Ravenclaw was next week. During the days, Remus, Peter and the girls saw less of Sirius and James. He had mentioned about the bet to his fellow Marauders and they were slightly surprised at Evans' idea as well. Nevertheless, they were glad that James had accepted the bet.

Meanwhile, Evans had told her friends about the bet as well. Being the best friends they are and knowing about her crush on James, (despite her constant denial), they kept hoping that Gryffindor would win the match.

"So Potter, how is the preparation going?" Daniels asked at lunch that day.

"It's going pretty good, I'm making them practice twice as hard." James replied, somewhat nervously.

Evans seemed to sense this. "Everything okay Potter? You sound unconfident." She commented.

He gave her a weird look before replying, "What? Me, unconfident? No way…..okay, maybe a little."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Kate said, grinning at Evans. "I'm sure with all the training you're doing, Gryffindor will surely win."

"I hope so, because we need to win the cup…..and we have to beat Ravenclaw at the match for that." James replied strategically, totally missing Kate's point.

The others stared at him except for Sirius who replied, "Don't worry Prongs, we're so going to crush them."

"That was weird." Daniels whispered to Evans.

"He always gets into a frenzy when it comes to Quidditch right?" She asked with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Daniels replied. And with that, they left the topic of the match…for now.

_**II**_

Finally, the day had arrived. All the Gryffindors were quite anxious, including Lily which was a feat in itself considering the fact that she was not a fan of Quidditch. Still, the bet she had made with Potter had left her no choice but to watch the match with anxiousness. In truth she was kind of torn. As much as she wanted Gryffindor to win (because if they did they would earn their House points) she most definitely didn't want to go with _Potter_ of all people to the ball, or so she kept telling herself. Lily sighed and looked to the side, where Lupin and Emily were sitting together, eyes intent upward toward their friends, Pettigrew sitting next to Lupin. Of course, Potter, Black, and Alice wouldn't be there in the stands, they were Quidditch players after all and so would be up in their brooms.

As the game progressed Lily nerves were on end, she was trying her patience now, not to mention her sense of helplessness. At the moment, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were pretty close in their points, Ravenclaw in the lead but not by much. Had it been any other match (where she had not made such a bet on), she would have enjoyed watching her friend Alice play. And even if Black and Potter (mostly Potter) were a pain in the neck, she did admit to them being good players, which admittedly, the team needed. The game progressed once more, and Lily wasn't quite listening to the commentary, only looking up at the players.

"… and Daniels passes to Potter and… oh! Almost hit by that Bludger, an excellent save by Black! Potter there in the lead, dodges one Ravenclaw Chaser… two, passes to Daniels, Daniels dodges a Bludgers shoots and… GRYFFINDOR SCORES! The scores are now tied folks. Unless either scores, finding the Snitch could be the only option…" the commentary continues and Lily finds herself giving an ironic smile. Yes, tied indeed, Potter really did have his team practicing hard.

Now Lily couldn't help it, she made sure to look at the players _and_ listen to the commentary. Gryffindor almost scored again, but then unfortunately (or maybe not) dropped the Quaffle. Then when Ravenclaw came into position and was close to scoring, the Chaser was hit by a Bludger, also dropping the Quaffle. Hence it went, back and forth when finally…

"… and now there they go, both team's Seekers shooting toward the Snitch. This is it people! Who will catch the Snitch? There they are, neck to neck, will they stop? They're almost hitting the ground when – oh! An awesome maneuver by the Gryffindor Seeker, pulling his broom upward at last minute matching the movements of the Snitch… and he reaches for it… misses once… twice… and GRYFFINDOR WINS! The Seeker has caught the Snitch! There it is! The victory!" the commentator announces and the game is over, just like that. Leaving at once, a pale Lily Evans.

Everyone's cheering around Lily, but she hears none of it, only looking at the Seeker with that golden, winged, tiny ball in his hand, indicating the inevitable: Gryffindor has won. Normally, she would've been internally glad about this, they had just earned their House more points… but if it meant she had to go to _a ball_ with _Potter_ of all people, then no, she didn't want that. What happened next made her blood run cold and snapped her out of her thoughts.

Lily watched with a detached sort of horror when Potter flew his broom in her line of field, having the audacity of grinning at her before she saw him go to the commentator's box. He spoke to the professor there and in the back of her mind she wondered what Potter was up to. It didn't take long for her to find out, and she didn't know how to feel about that.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I have your attention please," Potter's voice called out. Everybody stopped to look up at where James was on his broom. Everything seemed to go still and even Lily reluctantly turned. "Firstly, I would like to announce and thank the team for our spectacular performance," he said with a grin before saying, "I would personally like to dedicate this win to Miss Lily Evans, the Head Girl. Due to some recent events, she has agreed to go to the ball with me should Gryffindor win the match, but I'd like to ask her anyway."

Lily eyes widened. What the _hell_ did he think he was doing! To her horror, he continued with, "I played this game for you Evans, and we won. Go with me to the ball?" he asked.

She blinked. She wished someone (preferably Alice) would come in and fly her away so she could hide forever. She could bet her face was almost as dark as her hair. _So this must be what Emily and Lupin felt like when he asked her to the ball,_ she thought vaguely. Everything seemed to be so silent and she could practically _feel_ everyone look at her. She felt like she couldn't move, so when she gave a curt nod, she was surprised at her. Soon after her response, Potter grinned and flew to his waiting team on the pitch and the murmuring began. What kind of gossip would soon be going around, she didn't know. She felt a little better when she caught sight of Emily and Lupin smiling at her, trying to reassure and as she made her way off the stands, she caught sight of Potter, who gave her a half grin before going away. Making her way into the castle, Lily wasn't sure how to feel, but… maybe going with Potter wouldn't be so bad. He could be nice, she knew this, she just hoped he wouldn't do something stupidly embarrassing was all. Well, all in due time, at the moment she was intent on hiding in her room and not coming out in… forever. She glared in annoyance at the almost excited feeling in her chest at the fact she would be going with Potter to the ball. Well, there could be worse things happen to her, right? With a sigh and a kind of swirl of emotions, Lily went to the Head dorms, directly to her room and nobody saw her for the rest of the day.

**Note by ShatteredHeart-BlueSapphire: Sorry for the kind of abrupt ending. I have issues portraying Lily because I'm sure that at this point she has mixed feelings for James. Plus, the plot bunnies concerning Harry Potter have deluded me, and in my writer's block, this is what I've come up with. Hope you still liked it though and find in you to review. **


	9. Asking Alice to the Ball

Ird Hello Fanfiction peeps! We know there hasn't been an update in months! But school and other things had stolen most of our time! Hope you haven't forgotten the plot. Just in case, here is a recap:  
_There is a Halloween Ball coming up and so far, Remus has asked Emily to be his date and James has asked Lily and got the positive response. Now, Sirius' plan to ask out Alice is next._

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

_**Note by ShatteredHeart-BlueSapphire**_**! **After the months this was written, I failed to write my part until much later. First due to writer's block (as Sirius is actually a hard character to write for like this) and then because other things happened. So, yeah, some of the holdup was my fault. Sorry for the OOCness on my part!

_**I**_

Next day, as the girls walked into the Great Hall, the whole of Gryffindor began clapping and howling. It didn't take a genius to figure out the applause was a response to Potter's announcement. Lily blushed all shades of red while Alice and Emily just grinned and looked at her.

She caught Potter's eye and he winked at her. Her friends saw this exchange and they began laughing. Lily ignored them and walked to where the Marauders were sitting. 

"Thanks a lot Potter." Lily muttered.

He grinned and replied, "Anytime Flower."

As the girls sat down opposite the Marauders, Black quipped up, "Finally saw what a great man our Prongs is, did you?"

"Assuming that you're the real reason I agreed to go with him, I'm not going to comment on that." Lily replied with a sarcastic smile.

"Oh, I'm wounded Flower," Potter said, trying to be dramatic.

"Good, that means my day was productive," she said with a grin.

"Lily, we have to go; Potions is first period," Emily reminded her.

"See you later ladies," Black said. "In case you happen to bunk the class, you'll find us around her somewhere."

"We have a free period," Potter explained, seeing the quizzical looks on their faces.

"Well, hope you make good use of it," Alice commented.

"Of course we will! Marauder manner, that is." Black said with a wink.

The girls rolled their eyes and waved their goodbyes. Black watched Alice till she was out of the hall and then turned to look at his friends. He narrowed his eyes when he saw that they were grinning at him.

"What is it?" he asked, sounding a little guarded.

"Oh, nothing. We were just wondering when you were going to ask McKinnon to the Ball." Lupin replied with a not-so-innocent smile.

Black pretended to be surprised. "And what makes you think I would want to go with her?"

"You know, it could be the fact that you're madly in love with her," Potter said with a smirk.

"Ha! I am not in love with her," Black retorted.

"No, but you're close," Pettigrew responded.

"Come on Padfoot, just ask her before some other bloke does and she accepts," Potter said. "So, just tell us your idea and we'll help."

"It's that obvious?" Black asked with a sheepish smile.

"May be not to her, but to us…definitely." Lupin replied.

"Well, what if she doesn't say 'yes'? I don't know for sure that she fancies me," Black told them, feeling a bit uncertain. 

"Nah, I'm sure she will accept." Potter said and added, "Besides, that doesn't mean you won't try, right?"

Black seemed to consider this and said, "Okay, but I'm going to need your help."

_**II**_

The three girls were hanging out by the Black Lake and just like the boys, they were discussing about who's going to the Ball with Alice.

"So, who do you want to go with?" Evans asked with a grin.

McKinnon groaned and replied, "Do I have to answer that? You already know who I want to go with."

"Then why don't you and go and ask him?" Kate asked. "I'm quite sure he would be interested in going with you."

"But I'm not feeling as confident as you are. Anyway, he is one of the most popular boys, lots of girls would have already asked him and he would have accepted an offer." McKinnon said with a bit of a sad voice.

Evans put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, we don't know that for sure. And we will never know unless you go and ask him."

Just as she was about to reply, they saw James approaching them. "Hello ladies, how's it going?" He greeted them.

"It's going alright." Kate replied. "What's up?"

"Um, Sirius wants McKinnon to meet him in the Common Room at midnight," James explained. "Although, he wouldn't tell me why."

"Midnight? Isn't that a bit late after curfew? What if we get caught?" McKinnon asked.

"Please, it's Sirius…no chance of that happening," James said with a grin. "So, will you go?"

"Sure, why not? You've raised my curiosity anyway," McKinnon replied teasingly.

"Excellent. I will go and tell him the good news." With that, James bid them goodbye and left.

"What do you think he wants?" McKinnon asked her friends.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? He's going to ask you to the Ball!"

"But why in such secrecy?" she asked, feeling confused about the whole thing.

"Perhaps after Potter's public announcement, he wanted his to be a bit more private," Kate replied with a smirk, looking pointedly at Evans.

"Hey, it's not my fault! I had no idea he was going to ask me right after the match!" Evans protested. "Besides, it's not like I enjoyed the attention either."

"I have to admit, my curiosity _is _a bit too high right now." McKinnon said with a laugh. "Alright, so I'll go." But she wasn't as sure as her friends as to what was going to happen. Well, only one way to find out.

_**III**_

The day ended uneventfully and before they knew it, it was already curfew. The Marauders couldn't be seen anywhere but this didn't bother the girls, as they were used to their 'disappearing ways.'

"What if it's a prank?" Alice asked her friends, as they lay awake waiting for midnight to come around.

"If it's prank, we'll hex them into oblivion," Lily replied with such seriousness that Alice and Emily laughed.

"Well, I guess that's a bit comforting," Alice said teasingly.

They continued to talk and kill time and soon, the clock chimed, indicating that it was midnight. Alice got up from her bed and nervously put on her night robes. "Wish me luck." She said on her way out.

"Good luck," the girls replied in unison.

Alice walked down the stairs slowly, not wanting to rush into whatever was waiting in the Common Room. When she reached the bottom, Alice gasped at the sight before her.

Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't what she had imagined. Maybe she was overreacting because really, it was simple… but maybe she was surprised and gawking _because_ it was simple. Sirius was after all, a Marauder, and simple just wasn't his style. She stood there a moment blinking at the origami swans which had obviously been enchanted to fly. After a moment she went toward Sirius, who was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace.

She sat down beside him and the paper swans flew around them. She watched them. "Wow… since when was something like this a hobby of yours?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Since never. This isn't something I'm good at. Moony and the others helped me. I did make the red one," he said with a touch a pride in his voice.

She looked at the red swan, the only one as the others were white. She grinned but her eyes didn't stray from the red swan. "Yeah, I can tell," she said sounding amused.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean? I tried hard on it, I'll have you know," he said a little defensively.

She snorted. In a mock surprised voice she said, "What is this? Mister Perfect Black can't do origami? I'm appalled!"

"Man, you really can be a jerk," he said a little offended.

"Yeah, but not as much as you. You have to admit, you're better at it than I am," she said and grinned at him. He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest and he looked at the fire. After a moment she looked at the fire too. This was weird. Did he want to show her he could do origami… at midnight? She sighed. "Besides showing you're mighty origami skills, was there a reason you asked me here… at midnight nonetheless?" she queried.

"Well yeah, actually. But to find out you're going to have to catch that red swan and unfold it," he explained.

She was silent a moment before she shrugged. That was easy enough. "Okay," she said and reached for it. Before she could grab it though, it flew just out of reach. She frowned before standing and trying to reach it again. It again flew from her grasp. Her eyes narrowed and she looked down at Sirius, who was looking up at her innocently, except for the amused glint in his eyes. "What the hell, Black?" she said a little annoyed.

Now he grinned at her. "It's not my fault you're not good at listening. I told you, didn't I? You're going to have to _catch_ it. And you can't Accio it," he said nonchalant.

"Now who's the jerk?" she murmured and tried to catch the little bugger. She knew she was making a fool out of herself but hey, if she wanted to know what was going on she'd have to catch that swan. Plus, she was admittedly a little excited knowing that maybe it had to do with the Halloween Ball. After a little chasing the swan went to rest on Sirius' head. She walked toward him. "Give me the damn bird," she said.

"Can't, you have to catch it," he said standing and looking thoroughly amused. Before she reached him he asked, "What if you had to catch me to get the swan?" He grinned then.

Quicker than he expected she took out her wand. "You dare move from that spot and I'll make sure you regret it," she said and her eyes had a dangerous spark to them.

He was about to say something when she raised her wand at him. He pouted. "Fine. Geez, way to ruin the fun," he said.

She plucked the swan from his head (finally!) and carefully unfolded the paper. She enjoyed his slightly cringe as she did so, probably because he had worked so hard just for her to come and unfold it.

She blinked at the paper and looked at him confused. "It's… blank," was all she managed to say.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Of course it is. It'd be lame if I asked you to the Halloween Ball by asking you in a note when we're right here," he said as if it should be obvious. She hadn't realized he had taken his wand out.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why you- Levicorpus!" she exclaimed raising her wand.

"Protego," he was quick to say. She gave him an annoyed look. He just grinned. "I knew you were going to do that," was all he said. "Oh, come on, you can't be _that_ mad at me," he added. She didn't say anything and only after a moment put her wand away with a 'hmph'. "So, will you?" he asked after a moment.

"Will I what?" she asked a little annoyed.

"Duh, the whole reason I asked for you to come was to ask you to the Halloween Ball. So, will you go to the ball with me or not?" he asked in a nonchalant tone. However, she noticed that he was balancing slightly on the balls of his feet. Hm, so he was nervous was he?

She decided to tease him a little. "Hm, I don't know," she said truly looking troubled.

He blinked at her. "Did someone else already ask you?" he asked quick to quire. Alice wanted to smile at his tone. He shook his head and rephrased his question. "Is there someone else you're going with?"

"Um, no…" she said sounding a little doubtful, on purpose of course. To him it would probably seem as if there was someone else she _could_ go with.

"Come on, Alice, go with me to the ball. It works better for us too, because our friends are going together," he assured but now he shifted a little more nervously. She probably wouldn't have noticed, if she hadn't been looking for it. She was amused at the fact Sirius Black was nervous asking her to the ball when they were in the Common Room in the middle of the night, alone. She realized something else. He had called her by her given name.

She blinked at him. She couldn't pretend anymore, otherwise she might end up laughing and give herself away. She shrugged and smiled at him. "Sure thing, Black. I'll go with you," she said and her smile widened a little.

He grinned at her. She really did like his smile… more than she cared to admit to herself… or anyone else for that matter. "Perfect," he said before he placed an arm around her shoulders and turned both of them around. She felt strange again, with him this close, but this time it wasn't very uncomfortable, maybe because she knew nobody could walk in on them. "We're going to have to put those Dungbombs to good use during the ball," he said and he was grinning mischievously at her.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Once a Marauder, always a Marauder. _I'm_ not a Marauder…" she trailed off and then she grinned at him, "But I'll gladly work alongside them if it means liven up the party."

He laughed. "I knew there was something we had to have in common," he said.

She smiled. "Yeah, that's nice." She knew if she didn't get away from him, she'd end up doing something she'd regret; he was affecting her in a way that was uncommon to her.

"Well, we'd better get back to bed before we're caught," Alice said hurriedly. "Good night!" And with that, she ran back to her room.

Sirius couldn't help the amused smile that graced his lips and whispered to himself, "That was certainly interesting."

_**Soooo, how was it? Sorry if the ending wasn't that good, though. Don't forget to review! ^^ **_


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